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applegrove

(118,933 posts)
Sat Nov 4, 2017, 07:45 PM Nov 2017

Facebook estimates 200 million users may be fake: report

BY JOSH DELK at the Hill

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/358757-facebook-estimates-200-million-users-may-be-fake-report

"SNIP.........

Facebook now estimates that nearly 200 million of its users may be fake accounts.

Facebook, Twitter and Google testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee in a three-day session this week, providing investigators information on the efforts of foreign actors to meddle in U.S. politics.

One of the investigators' concerns, according to The New York Times, is the widespread use of "fake" social media accounts.

Twitter also reports that nearly 5 percent of its user base, or more than 16 million accounts, are fake "spam" accounts, Sean Edgett, the social media giant's acting general counsel, said in testimony.

.......SNIP"

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BigmanPigman

(51,674 posts)
1. What is the difference between this report
Sat Nov 4, 2017, 07:58 PM
Nov 2017

and the info that came out in testimony this week that 150,000 million users saw fake "bot/troll" ads or is it the same thing?

applegrove

(118,933 posts)
2. The fake accounts could be American companies or political parties
Sat Nov 4, 2017, 08:02 PM
Nov 2017

Last edited Sat Nov 4, 2017, 08:34 PM - Edit history (1)

and other groups or people and groups around the world. They could be scammers or nigerian princes or russians or chinese propagandists. Basically anyone who for some reason does not want to be their authentic self but wants to use facebook.

applegrove

(118,933 posts)
7. Maybe they can tell because of the lack friends. Or lack of coherent group
Sat Nov 4, 2017, 09:43 PM
Nov 2017

of friends. There is the option when you refuse a friend request that you say "i don't know this person".

 

FarCenter

(19,429 posts)
9. They collect a lot of information about each user for targeting ads.
Sat Nov 4, 2017, 09:48 PM
Nov 2017

They can probably detect patterns of characteristics that indicate a user account is not under a real identity.

It would be interesting to know what fraction of US users are fake. Also of the users exposed to fake Russian ads, how many are in the US?

democratisphere

(17,235 posts)
3. I'm sure investors and advertisers will be happy to know they are investing in 200 million
Sat Nov 4, 2017, 08:24 PM
Nov 2017

fake entities that buy and care about nothing. Good job Zuckerberg. Keep it up!

GoCubsGo

(32,103 posts)
8. Yeah, I report several of them a day.
Sat Nov 4, 2017, 09:44 PM
Nov 2017

Not that anything ever gets done. I think I reported "Jade Helm" three times in the past month.

OriginalGeek

(12,132 posts)
13. I've had as many as 5
Sun Nov 5, 2017, 01:04 AM
Nov 2017

And all were for specific games I played online. I guess I still have them. .I never closed them but I stopped playing the games so I haven't checked them in years. I forget the passwords so I couldn't get into them now if I even remembered the user names. I do still get email notifications for one but I don't even have the email accounts for the other ones.

Alea

(706 posts)
12. When I was big in to farmville I had 5
Sun Nov 5, 2017, 12:55 AM
Nov 2017

Just so I could send myself building materials for my barn and fuel for my tractor because I didn't have enough friends playing farmville. It's not all about politics and russian bots.

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